I began my experiment with parsley. The original research placed 25g of fresh chopped parsley in 300ml of water. My measuring cup displays ml, but I don’t have scales around the house. Never fear, because I discovered that 10 pennies weighs about 25 grams. Incidentally, I found that applies to pennies minted after 1982-ish.

Using that notion of weight, I chopped an estimated 25g of parsley and placed in my measuring cup with 300ml of water and soaked for 15 minutes. Then I drained the water into a glass. The resulting liquor did have a light green tinge to it.

Parsley water smells and tastes like… parsley. No epiphanies here- not bitter, a little astringent feeling with a slight metallic aftertaste.

With the flavor stored in my brain, I got out my teas and began to taste.

I found that parsley flavor was often a minor component in some Chinese greens. You have to work hard to pull it out in some cases. It was somewhat more noticeable in Chinese greens with a natural savory aspect, or that have some age on them and have lost some of their fresh sweetness.

Teaflection’s Gunpowder gives one of the strongest parsley impressions I encountered. Medium-grade gunpowders deliver ashy, savory flavors. Underneath the charred aroma I discovered something closely akin to parsley. Since gunpowder is produced from older, more mature leaves, it is endowed with much of its flavor during the fixing/firing process.

Based on this experience, parsley flavor is not something to be sought out by itself. Its presence is stronger in leaves with greater maturity, and exists as a highly subdued flavor in fresher, savory teas like mao feng.